More Union News

At this time, Congress does not have a deal to fund federal agencies past Thursday night, and the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires February 8 at midnight. The House of Representatives is currently scheduled to be in session only three days this week.
House Republican leadership is writing a CR to run through March 22, and it is reported that votes could take place on Tuesday, February 6. However, without an overall agreement on defense and non-defense spending levels, as well as other outstanding policy issues, such as immigration, it remains unclear if there are enough votes to... Read more ...

Last week, bills were introduced in the House and Senate to cut the pay and benefits by as much as one-third of NTEU-represented employees working at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by moving them to the General Schedule (GS) pay system. NTEU had previously voiced our objection to this legislation when it was introduced in the House of Representatives in prior sessions of Congress and remains opposed. This bill would significantly harm CFBP’s ability to hire and retain knowledgeable and experienced professionals. No other financial regulatory agency is under the GS schedule. ... Read more ...

With the Office of Human Resource's recent announcement regarding the success of the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) in FY 2017, this week is a good time to reflect on the role of NTEU in negotiating for that program -- and defending it against repeated attempts by the SEC to reduce it over the past several years, including during negotiations over our current Collective Bargaining Agreement. It is also important to remind you that the union will continue to work hard to defend the SLRP in FY 2018, against any cutbacks by the SEC.
History of the Student Loan Repayment Program at the SEC... Read more ...

Federal employees will soon have more flexibility to manage their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) accounts under legislation that has passed both houses of Congress with strong bipartisan support and now awaits the president’s signature.
“Passage of this legislation is a victory for NTEU members and all federal employees and retirees,” said Tony Reardon, National President of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).
The TSP Modernization Act, endorsed by NTEU, was approved by the House in October and unanimously passed the Senate this week. It is a noncontroversial and common-sense proposal to... Read more ...

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has received notice from the IRS that the annual employee pretax contributions allowed under Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (HCFSA) and Limited Expense Health Flexible Spending Accounts (LEXFSA) will increase from $2,600 to $2,650. The increases for HCFSAs and LEXFSAs are effective for plans beginning on or after January 1, 2018. The annual maximum for Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts has not been increased. It will remain at $5,000.
Please note that OPM indicates that the educational materials and the brochure language for the... Read more ...

Today, the House of Representatives passed the Senate’s version of the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Resolution, H. Con. Res. 71, by a vote of 216 to 212. Unlike the initial House-passed version, the Senate-passed budget resolution does not contain instructions for the committee with jurisdiction over the federal workforce to cut federal employee retirement benefits. This means that the final FY18 Budget Resolution does not include the required $32 billion in cuts to federal employee retirement benefits that initially passed the House. Congressional leadership hopes to use this budget resolution... Read more ...

Trump Formalizes 2019 Pay Freeze Proposal, Revives Benefits Cuts

By Erich Wagner at Government Executive:

The Trump administration announced Monday that it will seek a pay freeze for all civilian employees in 2019, confirming a plan long expected from the White House. The administration's fiscal 2019 budget proposal released Monday by the Office of Management and Budget also includes a number of provisions that would cut federal workers’ retirement and other benefits...